User selectable approach for generating modifiable rules

ABSTRACT

A novel approach for generating and updating rules allows non-technical users to create and modify rules. A rules generation system includes a rules engineer interface, user interfaces and a rules generator. The rules engineer interface is an interface through which a rules engineer, such as rules engineer, may generate templates. Templates contain data that define rule “templates” that in turn specify a rule structure, rule elements that may be chosen by a user, and rule elements that may not be chosen by user. Templates may also define a set of choices, for example values, that user may choose for those rule elements. Templates may also be used to generate user interfaces. The user interfaces guide a user to create or edit rules.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/852,610 entitled,“Approach for Generating Rules”, filed May 9, 2001, which application isincorporated herein in its entirety by the reference thereto.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is generally related to information management systems andmore particularly, to a computer implemented approach for generatingbusiness rules.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many decisions made by business enterprises can be represented by one ormore business rules. As used herein the term “rule” refers to one ormore actions or operations that are performed upon the satisfaction ofone or more conditions. Thus, a “business rule” refers to one or morebusiness actions or business operations that are performed upon thesatisfaction of one or more conditions. For example, in the context of afinancial company that issues credit cards, the process for determiningwhether to offer a credit card to a particular individual based uponparticular financial or demographic information can be represented byone or more business rules.

Business rules are important because they allow business decisions to beautomated using computer software. The business logic and conditionsdefined by business rules are embodied in computer software. Referringto the prior example, it is not uncommon for financial companies toautomate, using computer software, the decision about whether a creditcard should be offered to a particular individual. Conventionally, thesetypes of computer systems use complex customized software to implementbusiness rules.

A significant problem with using custom software to implement businessrules is that the people in business organizations who decide on changesto business rules generally cannot themselves implement those changes inthe computer software. When business logic or conditions change, thecomputer software must be updated to reflect the change. For example, inthe context of issuing credit cards, if the minimum salary requirementis changed from X to Y, then the software must be manually updated toreflect the change in the minimum salary requirement from X to Y.Updating computer software generally requires technical expertise thatthe business people who decide the business rules simply don't have.These people are often financial analysts or high-level managers.Updating the software typically involves changing values in source codeor data files and then “rebuilding” the software, which requiresrecompiling source code to generate object code and then linking theobject code with libraries of other object code to generate a newruntime executable.

Some companies use a database system to store condition values so thatthe condition values can be updated and used by application softwarewithout having to rebuild the application software. When conditionvalues are updated, the software retrieves the updated values from thedatabase. This solves the problem of having to rebuild applicationsoftware when condition values change, but still does not allow businesspeople who define business rules and changes to implement those changesthemselves. Furthermore, databases are generally not capable of storingthe complex business logic required by business rules. Rather, thebusiness logic must still be embodied in the complex custom software.Hence, changing business logic rules requires updating the customsoftware, which cannot be done by non-technical personnel.

Based upon the need for non-technical people to be able to updatebusiness rules and applications that use the business rules, an approachfor updating business rules and applications that use them that does notsuffer from limitations of prior approaches is highly desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Techniques are provided for facilitating the generation and updating ofrules, allowing non-technical users to create and modify business rules.According to an aspect of the invention, rule element data is generatedthat describes a set of choices for a rule element of a rule. Userinterfaces may be generated based on the rule element data. The userinterfaces are used to collect user choice data that specifies choicesfor the rule element chosen by the user.

According to another aspect of the invention, the rule element data maydefine the set of choices as a set of constant values, or use data froma database system to define the choices. The rule element data may alsodefine a set of conditions (e.g. logical expressions) that may be chosenas a rule element by a user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way oflimitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in whichlike reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1A is a block diagram depicting a system for generating rules thatare stored in a rules repository according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 1B is a diagram depicting a rule according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting a rule template according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting rule element providers that describechoices for editable rule elements according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting rule element holders used todescribe editable rule elements according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram depicting the screen of user interfaces forcollecting user choices for an editable rule element according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram depicting a process for generating rulesaccording to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram depicting templates used to define selectableconditions for an editable rule element according to an embodiment ofthe invention; and

FIG. 8 is a block diagram depicting a computer system upon whichembodiments of the invention may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A method and apparatus for generating and updating rules is described.In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, that theinvention may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagramform in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Variousaspects of the invention are described hereinafter in the followingsections: 1) overview; 2) rule elements; 3) illustrative template; 4)rule element provider types and structure; 5) rule element holders; 6)illustrative user interface; 7) creating rules from templates; 8)conditions as editable rule elements; 9) advantages; and 10)implementation mechanisms.

1. Overview

A novel approach is described for generating and updating rules thatallows non-technical users to create and modify rules. FIG. 1A is ablock diagram depicting an example architecture of a rules generationsystem 100, which is a system that facilitates generating and updatingrules according to an embodiment of the invention. Rules generationsystem 100 includes various components: a rules engineer interface 102,user interfaces 104, and a rules generator 106. These componentsgenerate various entities which are stored in repository 108. Repository108 may be any storage mechanism, including database systems andrepositories that store data according to the XML standard.

Rules engineer interface 102 is an interface through which a rulesengineer, such as rules engineer 110, may generate templates andproviders 112, which are stored in repository 108. Templates andproviders 112 contain class templates 114, rule templates 116, ruleflowtemplates 118, other types templates not shown (e.g. functiontemplates), and rule element providers 120. In general, a template isdata that describes an entity that may be executed by a rules engine.Class templates 114, for example, define classes.

Rule templates 116 define rules. In particular, a rule templatespecifies a rule structure, rule elements that may be chosen by a user122, and rule elements that may not be chosen by user 122. Rule elementsare the elements that form a rule. Examples of rule elements include,without limitation, operators, variables, constants, conditions, andactions. A template may define a subset of rule elements that comprise acomplete structure for a rule.

Ruleflow templates 118 is a set of ruleflow templates. A ruleflowtemplate is data that defines a ruleflow. A ruleflow is a flow ofexecution of a set of tasks, where the set of tasks includes a taskinvolving the execution of a group of rules. According to an embodimentof the present invention, rules tasks entail the execution of rulesassociated with a group of templates.

Rule element providers 120 define a set of choices that a user maychoose for a particular editable rule element defined by a template. Forexample, a rule element provider may define a set of strings that a user122 may choose for a rule element.

User interface generator 104 generates user interfaces 124. Userinterface generator 104 creates user interfaces 124 to guide a user,such as user 122, to create or edit rules according to definitionsspecified by rule templates 116 and rule element providers 120. Oncegenerated, user interfaces 124 present editable rule elements that maybe edited by the user, and present and limit the choices the user maychoose for the rule elements. For example, an editable rule element maybe a string value representing the abbreviation of a state. In thiscontext, a user interface may include a list box control that allows auser to choose a value for the editable rule element. Thus, in thisexample, the list box control displays a list of states that may beselected by the user. In this way, the user interface presents andlimits the choices the user may choose for the editable rule element.User interfaces 124 insulate user 122 from many of the complicateddetails of engineering rules.

User interfaces 124 generate rule element choice data that representsthe choices made by a user for editable rule elements. The rule elementchoice data is stored as one or more “instances of a template” (hereintemplate instances). Template instances 126 represent a set of choices auser makes for the one or more editable rule elements defined by a ruletemplate of rule templates 116.

According to an embodiment of the invention, user interfaces 124 areembodied as one or more Web pages. These web pages may contain embeddedcode, scripts, or programs that are executed at a client, such as abrowser. These programs can be, for example, Java applets, Java scripts,or Active X controls. The programs may be stored temporarily in thecache of a client, or more permanently as, for example, one or moreplug-in applications.

Rules generator 106 generates rules and stores the rules as rules 128 inrepository 108. Rules generator 106 generates rules 128 according torule structures specified by rule templates 116 and the choices foreditable rule elements specified by template instances 126.

Rules generator 106 may also use other information to generate rules.For example, rules generator 106 may use rule templates 116, templateinstances 126 and other rule data that specifies one or more attributesof a rule not specified by the template instances 126.

A project, such as project 130, refers to one or more templateinstances. Project 130 refers to template instances 126-1 and 126-2. Aproject groups template instances into a module from which rulesgenerator 106 generates a set of rules. Rules generator 106 is capableof generating a group of rules from the template instances referred toby a particular project. According to an embodiment of the invention, aset of template instances, such as template instances 126-1, maybestored in a data file. Rules generator 106 may generate a group of rulesfrom a particular data file.

2. Rule Elements

FIG. 1B is a diagram that depicts rule 150 and its constituent ruleelements according to an embodiment of invention. Rule 150 may bewritten according to a rules language, for example the structured rulelanguage (SRL), defined by Brokat Technologies Incorporated. Ruleswritten in SRL may be transformed, e.g., compiled, into another form,e.g., code that is executable by a rules engine.

Referring to FIG. 1B, rule 150 includes rule elements 152, 154, 156,158, 160, 162 and 164. Rule element 152 is a variable in the form of anattribute of an object, in particular, theshoppingCart attribute of theobject theCustomer. Rule element 154 is an operator, in particular, thecontains operator. Rule elements 156 and 158 are constants; rule element156 is the string constant “cigars”, rule element 158 is the constantinteger 20. Rule element 160 is a condition in the form of an expressionformed by rule elements 152, rule element 154, and rule element 156.Rule element 162 is another example of a condition. Rule element 164 isan action in the form of a method invocation, i.e., an invocation of themethod append of object promotions.

Rules, rule elements, and rules engines are discussed in BlazeAdvisor™Technical White Paper, by Blaze Software™, Inc., 1999, the contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

3. Illustrative Template

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting an illustrative template and ruleelement providers in greater detail. Referring to FIG. 2, rule template200 is comprised of three types of data: rule element holders 202, rulestructure 204, and user interface definition 206. User interfacedefinition 206 defines aspects of user interfaces 124.

Rule structure 204 generally defines a rule structure that specifiesnon-editable rule elements and locations in the rule structure that areoccupied by editable rule elements. Rule structure 204 may include SRLcode that defines non-editable elements. An editable rule element'sposition within a rule structure is specified by a placeholder such asplaceholders 208, 210, and 212. According to one embodiment of theinvention, placeholders are embedded in SRL code.

In the present example, placeholders 208, 210, and 212 refer to ruleelement holders ShoppingCartItemHolder 214, AgeHolder 216, andEmploymentStatusHolder 218, respectively. A rule element holder maydefine characteristics about an editable rule element. For example, arule element holder may define whether an editable rule element is astring value, a collection of string values, an operator, or acondition. A rule element holder may also identify a template thatdefines a portion of a rule structure, as shall be described in greaterdetail herein after.

Rule element holder ShoppingCartItemHolder 214, AgeHolder 216, andEmploymentStatusHolder 218 each refer to a rule element provider. A ruleelement provider defines a set of choices a user may choose for aneditable rule element. The rule element provider also constrains thechoices a user may choose for the rule element. For example, a ruleelement provider may define a list of string values (abbreviations ofstates) as a set of choices for an editable rule element representing astate. The rule element provider thus defines the list as the set ofchoices for the editable rule element, and constrains the user tomembers of the list. In this present example, ShoppingCartItemHolder 214refers to ShoppingCartItemProvider 220, AgeHolder 216 refers toAgeProvider 222, EmploymentStatusHolder 218 refers toEmploymentStatusProvider 224. AgeProvider 222 restricts the value of aneditable rule element to an integer value between 20 and 100.

4. Rule Element Provider Types and Structure

There are various types of rule element providers. The structure of arule element provider and the information it contains depends on itstype. FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting rule element providersShoppingCartItemProvider 220, AgeProvider 222, andEmploymentStatusProvider 224 in greater detail to illustrate exampletypes of rule element providers and structures.

ShoppingCartItemProvider 220 is a list rule element provider. A listrule element provider defines a list of data value choices for a ruleelement. ShoppingCartItemProvider 220 includes a data type 302 thatdefines the data type of the values in the list, which in this case isstring. Value list 304 contains the list of string values. The list ofstring values, which represent employment status, include ‘SelfEmployed, Part Time’, and ‘Full Time’.

AgeProvider 222 is an integer rule element provider. An integer ruleelement provider defines a range of value choices for an editable ruleelement. Beginning 306 defines the beginning of the range and ending 308defines the end of the range. AgeProvider 222 (FIG. 2) is used toconstrain the value of an editable rule element corresponding to a humanage. Accordingly, beginning 306 is set to 0 and ending 308 to xxx.

EmploymentStatusProvider 224 is a database provider. A database providerdefines a set of data value choices for a particular rule element, wherethe set is the result set of a database query. Connect details 310contain information about how to connect to a database. This informationincludes, for example, the location of the database server, and a username and password. Query 312 is data defining a query. Such data may bea query string written in SQL. For example, EmploymentStatusProvider 224defines a collection of data strings describing products, where thecollection is the result set of a query issued against a database tablecontaining product names.

Other types of rule element providers may define a set of data valuechoices from sources other than database systems. For example, a ruleelement provider may use the values in a data file or other repositoryto define the particular data value choices for a editable rule element.

5. Rule Element Holders

FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting an example implementation ofShoppingCartItemHolder 214. In this example, ShoppingCartItemHolder 214includes data elements provider-template 400, and number of items 402.Provider-template 400 will identify either a rule element provider or atemplate, depending on the rule element holder's type. According to anembodiment of the present invention, a rule element holder may have oneof several types: provider type or a template.

ShoppingCartItemHolder 214 is an example of a provider type of ruleelement holder. A provider type identifies a rule element provider. Inthis case, the data element provider-template 400 identifiesShoppingCartItemProvider 220. The identified rule element providerdefines a set of choices for the editable rule element corresponding tothe rule element holder. In addition, because provider-template 400refers to ShoppingCartItemProvider 220, the type of editable ruleelement defined by ShoppingCartItemHolder 214 is string. In this way, arule element holder defines the type of an editable rule element.

A rule element holder may also define an editable rule element as acollection of values. Number of items 402 specifies the number values inthe collection. For example, suppose that number of items 402 is set to5. In this case, ShoppingCartItemHolder 214 defines an editable ruleelement that may be a collection of up to five values. If number ofitems 402 were set to 1, then the editable rule element would not be acollection. In addition, number of items 402 may contain a flag toindicate whether or not the values in the collection should be unique.

For rule element holders of the template type, provider-template 400refers to another template that defines a portion of a rule structure,which may include non-editable rule elements and editable rule elements.These other templates are useful for defining a partial rule structurefrequently found in numerous rule structures.

6. Illustrative User Interface

As mentioned previously, rules generation system 100 generates userinterfaces that accept choices for editable rule elements. The userinterfaces are generated according to definitions specified by aparticular template. FIG. 5 is a block diagram that depicts a screen fora user interface generated for rule template 200.

Referring to FIG. 5, screen 500 includes various graphical controls usedto accept rule element choices from a user. Control 502 is a list boxcontrol. Label control 504 is displayed in association with control 502.Control 502 includes list 506. List 506 displays the rule elementchoices defined by ShoppingCartItemProvider 220 forShoppingCartItemHolder 214. A user may only select a choice in list 506.The choices in the list are those belonging to the result set of query312.

Control 508 is a text box control used for collecting integer ruleelements representing an age. The user interface is configured to onlyaccept the range specified by AgeProvider 222. i.e. 20 through xxx.

Control 510 is a list box control that includes list 514. List 514displays the rule element choices defined by EmploymentStatusProvider224 for EmploymentStatusHolder 218. The user may only select from one ofthe choices in the list, the choices being defined byEmploymentStatusProvider 224.

Submit button 516 is a command button manipulated by a user to store therule element choices made through the interface. In response tomanipulating the submit button 516, rules generation system 100 storesthe choices as a template instance of rule template 200.

User interface definition 206 stores data that controls variouscharacteristics of screen 500. For example, user interface definition206 may include data specifying the background color of screen 500, aswell as the font and font size of the labels.

7. Creating Rules from Templates

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting a process for facilitating thegeneration and updating of rules using various components describedpreviously, according to one embodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, at step 600, rules engineer 110 interacts with therules engineer interface 102 to generate rule template 200.

At step 602, rules generation system 100 creates a user interface thatcollects from user 122 rule element choices according to rule template200.

At step 604, user 122 interacts with the user interface to generate ruleelement choices. Screen 500, as depicted in FIG. 5, shows the choicesmade by user 122. In response to manipulating submit button 505, thechoices are stored as a rule template instance having the values shownin screen 500. Specifically, the editable rule elements that correspondto the following rule element holders have the following values: (1) forShoppingCartItemHolder 214, ‘Cognac’ (2) for AgeHolder 216, ‘20’ and (3)for EmploymentStatusHolder 218, “FullTime’.

At step 606, rules generation system 100 generates rules based upon ruletemplate 200 and Template instances 126. Rule 150 (FIG. 1B) representsthe rule generated for the current example.

8. Conditions as Editable Rule Elements

Techniques for facilitating the generation and updating of rules havebeen illustrated using editable rule element types that are constantstrings and integers. However, the techniques described herein may beused for other types of rule elements, such as operators and conditions.FIG. 7 illustrates a template that defines an editable rule element as acondition.

FIG. 7 shows some components of template 700, which define a rulestructure having an editable rule element as a condition. Referring toFIG. 7, placeholder 702 is a placeholder within rule structure 704.Placeholder 702 refers to ConditionHolder 706, which refers toConditionProvider 708.

ConditionProvider 708 defines a set of conditions which may be selectedfor an editable rule element. Specifically, ConditionProvider 708includes template list 710, which contains template references 710-1through 710-N. Each of template references 710-1 through 710-N refers toa condition template in condition templates 712. A condition templatedefines a rule structure for a condition, which may specify anexpression or other partial rule structure. A condition template mayalso define editable rule elements.

A user interface for template 700 may include multiple screens, such asa screen for template 700 and a screen for each of the conditiontemplates. When a user chooses a particular condition defined bycondition template 700, a screen generated for that condition templateis presented to the user. The screen may include graphic controls foreditable rules elements defined by the condition template.

9. Advantages

The approaches described for generating and updating rules have variousadvantages. Specifically, the approach allows technical andnon-technical users to participate in the process of generating andupdating rules without the need for skills and knowledge outside theirrespective bailiwicks. A non-technical business analyst may providevalues and conditions for business rules through user interfacesconfigured to lead them through this process. Providing the values andconditions for rule elements thus requires no programming of businessrules. The technical person who develops business rules does not need toknow specific values or conditions needed for business rules.

Moreover, the degree of participation between technical andnon-technical persons is reduced. For example, implementing changes torules may require updating new rules with new values determined by abusiness analyst. These values do not have to communicated to technicalpersons to reprogram business rules. Rather, the business analyst merelyenters the values through user interfaces. A process that requires lessparticipation between individuals is easier to manage because theprocess requires less coordination between them.

The approach may require less work on the part of technical persons todevelop business rules. The technical person does not have program eachrule, only its architecture. Even the programming needed to develop userinterfaces is reduced because the code for the user interfaces aregenerated automatically based on the templates.

Finally, external sources, such as database systems, may serve assources for choices and constraints for editable rule elements.Modifications to data in the database systems affecting those choicesare automatically reflected in the user interfaces through which thechoices are made, without requiring any reprogramming on the part oftechnical persons or further data entry on the part of businessanalysts.

10. Implementation Mechanisms

The approach described herein for generating and editing rules isapplicable to a wide variety of contexts and implementations dependingupon the requirements of a particular application and the approach isnot limited to any particular contexts and implementations. For example,the approach may be integrated into a rules architecture environment ora rules engine. As another example, the approach may be implemented as astand-alone mechanism that is communicatively coupled to a rulesarchitecture environment or rules engine. The approach may beimplemented at a single location or may be implemented in a distributedcomputing environment. The approach may be implemented in computerhardware, software or firmware, or in any combination of computerhardware, software and firmware.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system 800 uponwhich an embodiment of the invention may be implemented. Computer system800 includes a bus 802 or other communication mechanism forcommunicating information, and a processor 804 coupled with bus 802 forprocessing information. Computer system 800 also includes a main memory806, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storagedevice, coupled to bus 802 for storing information and instructions tobe executed by processor 804. Main memory 806 also may be used forstoring temporary variables or other intermediate information duringexecution of instructions to be executed by processor 804. Computersystem 800 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 808 or other staticstorage device coupled to bus 802 for storing static information andinstructions for processor 804. A storage device 810, such as a magneticdisk or optical disk, is provided and coupled to bus 802 for storinginformation and instructions.

Computer system 800 may be coupled via bus 802 to a display 812, such asa cathode ray tube (CRT), for displaying information to a computer user.An input device 814, including alphanumeric and other keys, is coupledto bus 802 for communicating information and command selections toprocessor 804. Another type of user input device is cursor control 816,such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicatingdirection information and command selections to processor 804 and forcontrolling cursor movement on display 812. This input device typicallyhas two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (e.g., x) and asecond axis (e.g., y), that allows the device to specify positions in aplane.

The invention is related to the use of computer system 800 forimplementing the techniques described herein. According to oneembodiment of the invention, those techniques are performed by computersystem 800 in response to processor 804 executing one or more sequencesof one or more instructions contained in main memory 806. Suchinstructions may be read into main memory 806 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as storage device 810. Execution of thesequences of instructions contained in main memory 806 causes processor804 to perform the process steps described herein. In alternativeembodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with software instructions to implement the invention. Thus,embodiments of the invention are not limited to any specific combinationof hardware circuitry and software.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat participates in providing instructions to processor 804 forexecution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limitedto, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks,such as storage device 810. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, suchas main memory 806. Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copperwire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 802.Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves,such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red datacommunications.

Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppydisk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magneticmedium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punchcards, papertape, anyother physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM,a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave asdescribed hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer canread.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 804 forexecution. For example, the instructions may initially be carried on amagnetic disk of a remote computer. The remote computer can load theinstructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over atelephone line using a modem. A modem local to computer system 800 canreceive the data on the telephone line and use an infra-red transmitterto convert the data to an infra-red signal. An infra-red detector canreceive the data carried in the infra-red signal and appropriatecircuitry can place the data on bus 802. Bus 802 carries the data tomain memory 806, from which processor 804 retrieves and executes theinstructions. The instructions received by main memory 806 mayoptionally be stored on storage device 810 either before or afterexecution by processor 804.

Computer system 800 also includes a communication interface 818 coupledto bus 802. Communication interface 818 provides a two-way datacommunication coupling to a network link 820 that is connected to alocal network 822. For example, communication interface 818 maybe anintegrated services digital network (ISDN) card or a modem to provide adata communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line.As another example, communication interface 818 may be a local areanetwork (LAN) card to provide a data communication connection to acompatible LAN. Wireless links may also be implemented. In any suchimplementation, communication interface 818 sends and receiveselectrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital datastreams representing various types of information.

Network link 820 typically provides data communication through one ormore networks to other data devices. For example, network link 820 mayprovide a connection through local network 822 to a host computer 824 orto data equipment operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 826.ISP 826 in turn provides data communication services through the worldwide packet data communication network now commonly referred to as the“Internet” 828. Local network 822 and Internet 828 both use electrical,electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams. Thesignals through the various networks and the signals on network link 820and through communication interface 818, which carry the digital data toand from computer system 800, are exemplary forms of carrier wavestransporting the information.

Computer system 800 can send messages and receive data, includingprogram code, through the network (s), network link 820 andcommunication interface 818. In the Internet example, a server 830 mighttransmit a requested code for an application program through Internet828, ISP 826, local network 822 and communication interface 818.

The received code may be executed by processor 804 as it is received,and/or stored in storage device 810, or other non-volatile storage forlater execution, In this manner, computer system 800 may obtainapplication code in the form of a carrier wave.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evidentthat various modifications and changes may be made thereto withoutdeparting from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

1. A computer-implemented method for generating a rule, the methodcomprising the steps of: generating rule element data that define a setof choices that a user may choose for a rule element; receiving userchoice data that specify one or more choices made by the user for therule element; and generating the rule based upon the user choice data.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps further include presentingsaid set of choices to said user.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising step of: generating a user interface based on said ruleelement data; and wherein the step of receiving user choice datacomprises the step of receiving user choice data from a user interactingwith the user interface.
 4. The method of claim 1, method furthercomprising the step of: receiving user input specifying a set of valuesdefining said set of choices; and wherein the step of generating saidrule element data comprises the step of generating rule element datathat define said set of values as said set of choices.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said rule element comprises a value.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said rule element data specify a source of data thatdefine the set of choices.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said sourceof data comprises a database system.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinsaid rule element comprises a condition.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising the step of processing the rule.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the step of updating a rule repository toreflect said rule.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein said rule elementdata further define how the user may select said set of choices.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the step of generating the rule based uponthe user choice data comprises the step of generating the rule basedupon the user choice data and other rule data.
 13. The method of claim12, wherein said other rule data define another version of the rule; andwherein said user choice data specify modifications to said version. 14.The method of claim 12, wherein said other rule data specify anattribute of the rule not defined by the rule element data.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the set of choices comprises any of a set ofdata types; a set of data values; a set of operators; is a set ofconstraints; and a set of business logic.
 16. The method of claim 1,wherein the rule comprises a business rule.
 17. A computer-readablemedium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for generating arule, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions byone or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform amethod comprising the steps of: generating rule element data that definea set of choices that a user may choose for a rule element; receivinguser choice data that specifies one or more choices made by the user forthe rule element; and generating the rule based upon the user choicedata.
 18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, said method furthercomprising the step of: presenting said set of choices to said user. 19.The computer-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising generatinga user interface based on said rule element data; and wherein the stepof receiving user choice data comprises the step of receiving userchoice data from a user interacting with the user interface.
 20. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising one or moreinstructions receiving user input specifying a set of values definingsaid set of choices; and wherein the step of generating said ruleelement data comprising the step of generating rule element data thatdefine said set of values as said set of choices.
 21. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein said rule elementcomprises a value.
 22. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, whereinsaid rule element data specify a source of data that defines the set ofchoices.
 23. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein saidsource of data comprises a database system.
 24. The computer-readablemedium of claim 19, wherein said rule element comprises a condition. 25.The computer-readable medium of claim 19, further comprising one or moreinstructions for performing the step of processing the rule.
 26. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 19, further comprising one or moreinstructions for performing the step of updating a rule repository toreflect said rule.
 27. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, whereinsaid rule element data further define how the user may select said setof choices.
 28. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein thestep of generating the rule based upon the user choice data comprisingthe step of generating the rule based upon the user choice data andother rule data.
 29. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, whereinsaid other rule data define another version of the rule; and whereinsaid user choice data specify modification to said version.
 30. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein said other rule dataspecify an attribute of the rule not defined by the rule element data.31. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the set of choicescomprises any of a set of data types; a set of data values; a set ofoperators; a set of constraints; and a set of business logic.
 32. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the rule comprises abusiness rule.
 33. A computer-readable medium carrying one or moresequences of instructions for generating a rule, wherein execution ofthe one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processorscauses the one or more processors to perform a method comprising thesteps of: generating a template that defines: a rule structure with oneor more rule elements and an editable rule element; an editable ruleelement type, and a set of choices that a user may choose for theeditable rule element; receiving user choice data that specify one ormore choices chosen by the user for the rule element; generating therule based upon the user choice data; and updating a rules repository toreflect the rule.
 34. The computer-readable medium of claim 33 furthercomprising one or more instructions for performing the steps of:generating a user interface based on said template; and presenting saidset of choices to said user using said user interface.